This disclosure relates generally to hose reels, and more specifically to free-hanging rotatable hose reels, particularly for residential use. Almost anyone having experience with hoses, such as garden hoses or air hoses, understands some of the problems associated with the use and storage of such hoses. Storing hoses in order to avoid an unsightly mess and/or the formation of kinks that may impede flow through the hose is often difficult. It is well known that one way to address such problems is to provide a support about which the hose is wound to permit easy storage. Further, it is desirable if the support allows the hose to remain partially wound when in use, so the user does not have to unwind and rewind the entire hose each time it is used.
As a result, hose reels and carts are known in the art to wind and store unattractive, and otherwise unmanageable hoses, such as air and water hoses. Some hose reels may be modular carts, while others are wall-mounted. Modular carts are often on wheel bases and may offer some maneuverability when the hose is in use. However, modular carts are relatively expensive, large and bulky, requiring additional storage space, may still tangle the hose and traditionally are most useful when multiple faucets must be regularly accessed. Many users, however, use a hose mostly at a single faucet and do not care for the expense or bulk associated with the traditional carts.
Wall-mounted supports and hose reels are one alternative to the carts. However, many users of wall-mounted hose reels may find that the wall-mounted reels that are available offer very limited flexibility as to the movement of the hose by the user, particularly when it comes to the range of peripheral motion toward the lateral edges of a mounted-hose reel. Applicant finds that this limited range of motion may also cause kinks or bends in the hose that make it difficult to maneuver and/or damage the hose in the same manner that user was trying to prevent by the use of the hose reel. It is to these and other problems that this disclosure is directed.